The King's birthday long weekend usually kicks off the ski season each year but rain, and warmer than usual temperatures mean there won't be many people hitting the slopes this week.
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00:00It's fairly typical for the opening weekend not to have a lot of snow, and as you said
00:06in the intro, we've had mild weather and showers over the last two or three days.
00:10That low-pressure system has just been pushing in moist southeast winds, and with that, no
00:15snowmaking.
00:16And we had natural snow last weekend, but it disappeared pretty quickly.
00:20So we've just got some patches of man-made snow around the place at the moment, and a
00:24couple of beginner runs open.
00:25One here in Threadbaugh and Friday Flat Beginners Area, and Perisher have a little beginners
00:30area open there as well on their front valley.
00:32So yeah, not a huge start to the season, but as I said, it's not unusual.
00:36New modelling, Reg A, from ANU this week shows that this is only going to get worse due to
00:43the effects of climate change.
00:45Is this the new normal for our snow seasons, and are resorts, do you think, prepared for
00:49that?
00:50I think the resorts are, you know, they are adjusting.
00:55I mean, the scenarios outlined in that report, you know, there's like high-emission scenario,
01:00mid-emission scenario, and low-emission scenario, and if it is a low-emission scenario, I will
01:05see winter shorten probably by about three weeks by 2050, but for that to happen, like
01:13the current trajectory with current emissions is a high-emission scenario, which means little
01:19or no snow in the resorts by 2050.
01:21So basically, unless there's some action taken on climate change and reducing emissions,
01:26it's a fairly grim picture, and Fredbo is really aiming to be that year-round resort,
01:31so they're not relying as strongly on winter, but as I said, if people do take, if we do
01:36see some large-scale action on reducing emissions, the ski industry does have a future.
01:42Talk to us about the booking demand this year.
01:44Obviously, people are struggling with the cost of living at the moment, perhaps less
01:47money to splurge on a ski trip.
01:50Yeah, well, it is expensive, without a doubt, you know, accommodation's expensive down here,
01:55and lift tickets, you know, the season passes are quite reasonable if you get to, if you
01:59are able to at least get 10 days on the mountain, but a day ticket, over $200 there, so that's
02:05obviously turning people off.
02:06The idea of coming down for the long weekend when there's a lot of snow, people have to
02:10think about that, because it's going to cost them a fair bit of money, but having said
02:15that, bookings are low in June, as they always are, school holidays is pretty well full,
02:20typically, and speaking to accommodation providers here in Threadbarrow and in the Indian Jindabyne,
02:25August is picking up, and it'll be really interesting to see if the phones start ringing
02:29when we do get a good snowfall, and the keen skiers and snowboarders just go, well, I'm
02:34going anyway, because I want to hit the mountains.